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5 - Do Not Talk Death to Me

The Epic Underworld

from Part II - Epic Space

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 December 2024

By
Karolina Sekita
Edited by
Emma Greensmith
Emma Greensmith
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
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Summary

This chapter provides an account of epic katabases (journeys to the Underworld) and treats the Underworld as both a theme and a location in early hexameter poetry. Sekita presents an overview of Underworld scenes and motifs featuring in Homer and Hesiod, and as reconstructed in the Epic Cycle and other epic poets. She also summarises the main scholarly achievements and developments regarding the possible interpretations of this material, including its reception in the iconography of Attic and Apulian vase-painting and place in the broader Mediterranean tradition.

Keywords

UnderworldHadeskatabasisarchaicHomerHesiodEpic CycleOdysseusvase-paintingshades
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Epic , pp. 104 - 129
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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